PALMER: Did Perez really deserve a five-second penalty for his clash with Norris?

This year Sergio Perez has picked up a five-second penalty in Zandvoort for pit lane speeding, another in Singapore for swiping Alex Albon’s Williams, two penalties in Japan for overtaking under the Safety Car and then nerfing into Kevin Magnussen, and three more in Qatar for repeated track limits infringements. I’m sure Checo would have been hoping to get to the end of the season without further trouble in Abu Dhabi, but it wasn’t to be.

Incredibly he picked up his eighth five-second penalty from the last 10 races after contact with Lando Norris late on, taking his penalty points tally up to seven, with 12 permitted before a ban is enforced.